Island



G. D. LEWIS.

STEP FOR VEHICLES.

No. 430,530. Patented June 17, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE D. LEWIS, OF NElVPORT, RHODE ISLAND.

STEP FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 480,530, dated June 17, 1890.

Application filed April 29, 1890. Serial No. 349,907. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE D. LEWIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newport, in the county of Newport and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Step for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to steps for vehicles; and among the objects in View are to provide a secure and unyielding step to be mounted in entering a vehicle, which step is mounted or fixed upon a rigid portion of the vehicle in lieu of the shafts, thereby avoiding the throwing of the weight of a person entering the vehicle upon the back of the horse. i

Other minor objects of the invention will hereinafter appear, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of a portion of an axle of a vehicle, a step constructed in accordance With my invention being mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the axle and a portion of the step-support.

Like numerals indicate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates the usual axle, which at one side of its bearing I mount thereupon an inverted-U-shaped clip 2, the lower terminals of which embrace the axle, extend below the same, and are threaded in the usual manner.

3 design ates the step-sup iiorting arm, which is of suitable length, and in this instance straight, the rear end of the arm terminating in a reduced cylindrical threaded portion at, which is passed transversely through opposite aligning openings 5 formed in the clip 2, and through an opening 6, formed in the axle 1, which latter opening also aligns with those of the clip. The rear end of the arm projects beyond the opposite or outer terminal, and is secured in position by means of a nut 7 threading thereon.

8 designates a curved truss-bar, the rear end of which forms the tie-plate of the clip, said end being squared, as at 9, and provided with a pair of openings 10, through which depend the opposite terminals of the clip. The rear portion of the truss takes under the axle, as shown, and is bound snugly in position by means of a pair of nuts 11, applied to the terminals of said clip. The front ends of the arm and the truss, by reason of the curvature of the latter, are in contact with each other, and upon the upper face of the arm is mounted the step or foot-plate 12, said foot-plate being held in position through the medium of a pair of bolts 13, passed vertically through said plate, the arm and truss, and to the lower end of said bolts are applied ordinary nuts 14. The plate is preferably circular in shape, and at diametrically opposite sides has its edges or perimeter turned up, as at 15, so as to form a guide for the foot in feeling for the step, and also a guard against misplacement or slipping of the foot from the step. A step so mounted,

it will be observed, is extremely rigid and unyielding, not liable to become loosened by use is strong, while at the same time comparatively light, may be cheaply manufactured and applied to all the various styles and types of vehicles now in use, and, finally, the weight of the person in entering and leaving the vehicle is sustained solely by the supporting-arm and transferred from thence to the axles and not to the shaft or thill, where in many instances these steps have been applied, and which causes lameness and sore backs upon the parts of the horses.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. The herein-described step, the same consisting of a clip having opposite aligning openings and opposite depending threaded ends, an arm having a reduced cylindrical portion threaded and passed through the aligning openin s, and a nut for the arm, a curved truss terminating at its rear end in a tieplate having perforations for the reception of the terminals of the clip, nuts applied to said terminals under the plate, and a stepplate mounted upon the opposite end of the arm and secured to the ends of the arms and truss, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with an axle, of a clip of inverted-U shape mounted upon, embracing, and having its opposite terminals depending below the same, aligning openings formed in the clip and the axle, an arm terminatin g at its rear end in a threaded cylindrical portion passing through and beyond the 0penings, a nut upon the arm, a curved truss having its rear end terminating in a tie-plate having openings for the reception of the terminals of the clip, nuts upon the terminals 5 under the plate, which plate takes under the axle, a circular step, and a pair of bolts passing through the step, arm, and truss 'at the outer ends of the latter, said step having its periphery upwardly bent to form guards at diametrically-opposite sides, substantially as to specified.

In testimony that I claim-the foregoing as my own I have hereto afilxed my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE D. LEWIS.

Witnesses:

WM. G. WARD, J12, A. L. VVARI). 

